Case description
On March 13, 2024, the HACC sentenced Volodymyr Bulka, former judge of Ivano-Frankivsk Commercial Court, for extorting EUR 5,000 in bribes for extending the term of office of the insolvency officer of Zhyvytsia PJSC in a bankruptcy case.
In August 2018, the NABU caught Bulka red-handed at the Dinaris billiard club in Ivano-Frankivsk when he was taking the second part of the bribe. The former judge promised not to replace the insolvency officer with one who would sell the property of the bankrupt company in the “right” way for “5 bottles of champagne.”
The detainee pleaded not guilty and stated that he had been provoked to commit the crime by the chair of the board of Zhyvytsia PJSC with the assistance of law enforcement officers. However, the court, taking into account his activity, initiative in calling and organizing meetings, and disguised requests for bribes, found that there was no provocation.
The chair of the board of Zhyvytsia PJSC, subject to bankruptcy proceedings, was a whistleblower in this case. After the first offer of a bribe, he contacted the SSU Main Department for Combating Corruption and Organized Crime in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, and then filed a statement with the NABU. According to the chair of the board, he understood from the context of the conversation that it concerned thousands of dollars. He contacted the law enforcement agencies because of a direct demand for large amounts of money, so he wanted to stop this process as early as possible.,
Bulka’s actions were qualified under Article 368, part 3 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and he was sentenced to 6 years in prison with confiscation of all property, and was deprived of the right to hold the positions of a judge, a prosecutor, or an attorney-at-law for 3 years. In his last speech, Bulka repented: “I will live with this until the end of my days. Every day I regret my actions. If I could turn back time, I would never have committed such a shameful act.”
Back in 2018, when the crime was exposed, Bulka resigned, and the HCJ decided on his retirement with a lifetime allowance. Once the verdict comes into force, the resignation and allowance payments shall be terminated.
